Luísa Monteiro

MD Senior Editor, PR Manager

Luísa Monteiro is a bachelor in Social Communication and is currently taking a Master's degree in Communication and Politics at PUC São Paulo. Her researches are closely linked to the studies of internet as a democratic agora and her latest academic production correlates the (offline) social movements and their exposure on the net.

pril 28th will be a date to remember. Even though some of the great media claim that there were only demonstrations around the country, it is to assume that, by a consensus or not, what happened here was a strike. A general strike, the first in 20 years, one of the biggest in the History of the country, highly cited in the social media (figuring the trending topics in the whole world for hours), spread over the 26 states and the Federal District.

As it has been extensively discussed lately, Brazil has developed a fresh (and arguable) political conscience in the past years. People have been to the streets to protest for better transportation conditions, civil rights and even political reforms, being those demonstrations permeated by distinct political views, which caused, at times, even physical conflicts.

ampinas, Brazil. A man breaks into a house and kills in cold blood 12 people in New Year’s Eve – amongst them, his own son. Why was that? Love, the press claims. He wouldn’t stand divorcing and not living with his son, consequences that he directly linked to his ex-wife’s character and fate.

he year of 2016 was a tough one for Brazil. Within a political and economic crisis expressed in worrying numbers – 1 impeachment, 51% of rejection towards the new president, 24 Ministries initially led homogeneously by the white male elite, 11,9% of unemployment rate and an expectation of a growth of less than 1% in the following year -, Brazilians refrained their optimism and hoped for a more favourable time in 2017.

olitics is a very sensitive matter for discussion in Brazil. Even after the latest events and the abrupt development of a political mindset – especially fomented by social media, as we have long argued – some themes are still avoided, underestimated or simply ignored by the ‘ordinary citizen’, being lobby one of them.

Mr Temer’s interim government has been marked by aggressive contention measures, polemic decrees, an over homogeneous team of (arguably honest) ministers and an unexpected hesitation in choosing the political leaders in the parliament and planning its next moves.

As the Upper House voted for Ms Rousseff’s suspension, many questions were raised. The people, the media, opportunist and well-intentioned public figures, they all had something to say. Like any good scripted fiction, too, factors and variants were (and remain) many, generating a plethora of theories and, unfortunately, not much of productive debate.

Amid a severe political and economic crisis, with astronomic unemployment rates and the worst recession since 1990, the Brazilian politics faces a new turn of events with a raid at former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s apartment in São Bernardo do Campo, state of São Paulo.

Russia is not widely known for its outstanding abilities in soft power. That could be explained, albeit not justified, for the strong concision characteristic of the communist regime during the Soviet Union years, which resulted in East European countries in general – and Russia specifically - understanding and applying a stricter conduct when it comes to international relations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has, undoubtedly, faced hard times and what came lately is no exception to that. The country, governed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (military, judiciary, broadcasting services) and President Hassan Rouhani, undergoes a period of suffocated economy, alert troops and pressured judiciary.

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